Judge says board members have to go

This could be the end for Cartmill, Lopez in Sweetwater

The end for 2 Sweetwater board members?

A Superior Court judge on Thursday backed off of a previous ruling, in which she had determined board members James Cartmill and Bertha Lopez of Sweetwater schools could serve out their terms despite admitting to corruption charges.

Judge Ana Espana said that her previous finding lacked legal authority and that she was unaware of a provision of law requiring the two to be suspended immediately and removed from office upon sentencing in June.

Lopez and Cartmill have each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts from contractors in excess of state limits, part of a wide-reaching corruption probe in South County.

At the hearing where they entered their pleas on April 24, Espana had ruled that the board members could serve out their current terms — until November for Cartmill and 2016 for Lopez.

“I made a finding at your request that really I don’t think I was able to make,” Espana told Thomas Warwick, Cartmill’s attorney.

The judge said she was unaware of Government Code Section 1770, which states, “An office becomes vacant” when an elected official is convicted of “a violation of his or her official duties.”

U-T Watchdog highlighted the statute in a report on April 30, and Randall Winet, outside attorney for the Sweetwater Union High School District, wrote a letter to Espana that day seeking clarification.

Espana said, “I was not aware of those government codes at the time that I did that.”

Now, she said, she believes the law requires “that person is suspended at least until the day of sentencing and then on the day of sentencing, that that office is vacant.”

Warwick told Espana he has appellate court decisions and other legal opinions that indicate Cartmill and Lopez can remain on the board. The judge set a hearing for Tuesday to further discuss the issue.

If Cartmill and Lopez are ousted, that will leave only board member John McCann, as two other board members have already been removed from office in the South County probe. County education officials may have to appoint replacements to serve until November elections.